


Yellow is the color of sunshine and happiness and never ending twisting corridors

by amaresu



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016), The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Crossover, Gen, barely there background mentions of, but he might just be confused, the poor dear boy, todd/farah and dirk/todd and dirk/farah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 14:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20547500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaresu/pseuds/amaresu
Summary: Dirk steps through a door that wasn't there a minute ago and shouldn't be there now and won't be there when Todd and Farah get home. He steps out in London.





	Yellow is the color of sunshine and happiness and never ending twisting corridors

“Mona?” Dirk called out as he slowly approached the yellow door he was positive hadn’t been on that wall two minutes ago. Even if it had the door was flanked on either side by windows looking out at their, admittedly not great, second story view. Mona failed to appear, but that didn’t mean anything. She hadn’t been around for a week or so, turning into a motorcycle and letting herself get stolen. Still, it would be her type of joke to have him open a door into nothing but open air. 

He couldn’t help looking around the office as he walked towards it, to see if Todd or Farah were around, despite knowing they had gone out on a date night. “Mona? Todd and Farah aren’t here. They went on a date night. Not entirely sure why I’m not allowed to go on the date night with them, but they were both very firm about it. Farah said I had date night with Todd yesterday and it was her turn. Does that mean Farah and I have to go on a date night tomorrow?”

Dirk was momentarily distracted by the thought of date night with Farah. What would they even do? Working a case they were great together, with Todd as a bridge they were excellent. The two of them alone once got banned from the arcade for life. Dirk momentarily perked up as he remembered the new paintball place opening up. Farah could shoot lots of things and Dirk could get lost in the blacklights and Todd would bail them out of jail. It would be great.

Date night planned he turned his attention back to the door. Sitting there all yellow and impossible and where it shouldn’t be and wasn’t just a few minutes ago.

He was relatively sure that it wasn’t Mona. She would have given herself away by now, either laughing at his rambling or changing back into a person to commiserate being left out of date night or offering suggestions for what to do with Farah. The door was a rather fetching shade of yellow and the universe wasn’t telling him not to open the door which was practically a command to open it. With a decisive shake of his head and straightening his back he reached out for the door knob, “You are the same shade as my coat. That’s got to mean something.”

Helen’s door appearing in his office was a somewhat rare event these days. When they talked now it was more often him seeking her out and he was sure she liked it that way. Still, it was a bit rude to just walk in, “Forget how to knock?”

“I don’t normally knock when I’m existing a place,” the man who stuck his head out of the door said as he looked around Jon’s office, “but considering I’m apparently entering a new place I could give it a try.”

It was the smile the man had plastered on his face that kept Jon in his chair long enough for him to duck back into Helen’s corridors and knock on the door. After a moment's pause the knock sounded again and Jon mentally shook himself, “Come in?”

The door opened again and the man stepped out. He was a perfectly normal human as far as Jon could tell. Except he’d just stepped out of Helen’s door with a smile and a jaunty wave. After staring for a moment Jon finally cleared his throat, “Are you okay?”

The man relaxed out of his stiff position and blew a lungful of air through his lips in an artless raspberry, “Yes, thank you. I wasn’t sure how long we were going to stand there. Is this your office? Where are we if you don’t mind me asking? I mean you sound English, but so do I and I was in Seattle when I stepped through that lovely door and so I don’t want to presume. What is the date by the way? I feel like I’ve been walking for weeks, but that’s just not possible because I haven’t eaten or drinken anything and I can go about three days without either before I just curl up on the floor and cry.”

Normally Jon would have felt some satisfaction on the tide of information, but he hadn’t compelled him and he received no nurishment. At least Jon was used to feeling lost and confused and leaned into the sensation, “Yes, this is England. London. The Magnus Institute to be exact.”

“The Magnus Institute?” The man looked positively delighted. It was an unusual reaction even for people looking to use the library. “I’ve always wanted to visit! What a clever door bringing me here.”

Promises to Basira disappeared to the back of his mind as the man patted Helen’s door fondly and the need to know came to the fore. Before he could open his mouth though Helen’s voice rang out, “I wouldn’t bother Archivist. Very poor eating with that one.”

“Archivist,” the man said it like he was tasting the word. Looking up from the pile of papers he was pretending very badly not to look at, “Is that your name or your title?”

The worst part was he looked genuinely curious. Like either answer, or something completely different, would delight him. Which was the only reason Jon could find for answering the man, “Both, I guess. You can call me Jon though.”

“Wonderful,” the man held out a hand to shake, “Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective.”

Jon shook the hand, still trying to find his feet, “Holistic detective? Like the interconnectedness of the-”

“Universe! Yes, exactly,” Dirk pumped his hand up and down in enthusiasm. “Which is why, I’m sure you can understand, I just had to open the door that appeared in my office. Fascinating really, between the two windows and on the second floor. And the hallways! They don’t make any sense!”

Jon extracted his hand and looked over at Helen who at least appeared as disconcerted as he felt. Jon had read many statements by people who’d survived the Distortion. Spoken with people as well and traveled the corridors himself. He’s never seen anyone delighted by them. With a cough Jon did his best to look professional and not gobsmacked. With a silent apology to Basira he put a bit of power behind his next question, “So you found a door where one shouldn’t be in Seattle, walked through it, spent who knows how long wandering the corridors, ended up in London, and you’re happy?”

“Of course!” The smile was starting to look forced, but Dirk continued onward, “When one is but a leaf in the stream of creation you have to go where the Universe sends you.”

“You can see why I was having trouble?” Helen said from where she was leaning against the wall by her door. “He has no fear of that which isn’t.”

Jon nodded in understanding, giving a small wave as Helen walked back through her door. There was fear in Dirk Gently, but not of being seen either. It was somewhat disturbing to realize he could almost taste the shape of it, although taste wasn’t really the right word. “It’s being alone that you fear. Of always being apart even when you’re surrounded by people.”

Finally Dirk stopped smiling and started shifting uncomfortably, “Well, isn’t everyone?”

“You’d be surprised at what people fear,” Jon blew out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. “Still, best not to give anyone any temptations. Especially with the current management. I’ll walk you out.”

“Don’t be silly, I’ll just take-” Dirk cut off as he turned and saw the blank wall where Helen’s door had been. “On second thought I’ll take you up on that. Don’t suppose you have a mobile with international dialing I can borrow? I didn’t really bring any money with me for plane tickets.”

Jon kept himself from sighing once more, Helen was probably laughing to herself about this in her corridors. Not like he was doing anything with his paycheck and he could use some interaction with people outside of the archives, “Come along, we’ll get you sorted. Do you have your passport and ID or will you need to have that sent?”

Dirk doesn’t fully relax until he’s on the plane two days later. Jon had been very nice and had paid for everything from getting Todd to overnight his passport to the hotel Dirk stayed at and the plane ticket. But he had been reluctant to answer questions and each one Dirk managed to pry out of him seemed to lead only to more questions. Each more disturbing than the last.

There was something off about the Magnus Institute and Dirk was very certain it wasn’t just that place. The door certainly hadn’t been part of it and neither had the people with the odd necklace Jon had made sure to avoid. Dirk was getting an idea and he wasn’t liking the shape of things. 

First stop after reassuring Todd and Farah that he was fine despite his impromptu one week vacation to England would be finding Amanda. He had a feeling he was starting to get an idea of how exactly the Universe was broken.


End file.
